Credit cards – do you use them? Friends are often surprised to find out that I use credit cards. Not only do I use them, but I make money on them! They are just another tool and the key is being responsible. You have to follow the same basic rules – live within your means and don’t lose sight of your goals. You continue to buy your normal items, except now, use credit cards. Like coupons, credit cards are not intrinsically evil. Rather, they are a hook designed by people to take money from your pocket and put it into theirs (actually, that’s what every “for profit” business does). Perks are offered by certain credit card companies knowing that the majority of people will overspend, carry a monthly balance, and thus accrue high interest charges and service fees (your pocket to their pocket). Some will say that we are taking profit from the stores. Yes, the businesses that accept credit cards have to pay 1.5-3.5% of the sale to the credit company (and card processing company) but it is another hook they are using to ease your money into their pocket. When we had a small retail business, we initially accepted most credit cards to help people buy our products (Polish pottery and other imports from Europe), but it was our choice to accept the credit card usage terms or not. (My husband used to joke with customers telling them that their “Sky Miles” went to his account.
I use credit cards for the majority of my purchases and receive at least 1% cash back. That may not seem like much, but over the year, it adds up! Currently, I am using an American Express card which has no annual fee but for the first year gives me:
- 5% back on gas purchases (up to the first $150 purchased per month)
- 5% back on grocery purchases (up to the first $250 per month)
- 5% back on dining out (up to the first $250 per month)
While we seldom eat out and our groceries don’t cost more than $250/mth, I do try to optimize how we spend our money for gas. Our normal monthly gas purchases do not exceed the $150 maximum on the AMEX. But sometimes, like this past December, we went to work on our house in Alabama and visit family in Georgia, and we did use more gas. For those situations, I have a Discover card as back-up which gives 2% back on gas purchases, up to the first $100 per month! After my first year is up, these AMEX perks will cease and I’ll cancel the card and look for the next best deal available. I have been doing this for years and there has always been another deal – I’ve NEVER paid an annual fee for a credit card. 
How, you might ask, do I keep it all straight? I made small adhesive labels for each card stating what the card is used for and the maximum amount. Then, in our van (our family car is a 15 passenger van), I have a index card on which we write all our gas purchases and the corresponding credit card. When the limit on the card is reached, we simply switch to using the back-up for the remainder of the month. I am not an organization fanatic – the index card is often dirty, tattered and coffee stained by month’s end – it would never make it two months!
This may seem like too much trouble, but for 2008 I made over $500 on one card! For other large purchases (i.e. the vines for our vineyard), we use a Visa card through LL Bean. The “bean points” accrued have been used on many LL Bean clearance items, from winter milking coats to summer tank tops. (I accidentally tried to use them at LandsEnd but as nice as the operator was, she couldn’t accept them  . That brings many a laugh in our family.)
Again, the key is discipline in your purchasing, complete bill payment at the time it is due (nothing carried over to the next billing cycle!) and then maximize the offered perk. Take the time to investigate what perks are available to meet your family’s needs.
Photo Credit: Bing Images
I was privileged to participate in the group writing project sponsored by Daniel Scocco at Daily Blog Tips. The topic was 2009 in Review and there were 90 participants. My post “My Top 40 Frugal Living Tips for 2009” was published in the General category. Other categories include: Blogging and Social Media, Business and Marketing, Cooking and Parenting, Lifestyle, Writing and Education and Technology and the Internet. If you are interested there are some good articles worth the reading from many different perspectives.
Frugal living is not new to our family but now has new meaning! 2008 saw our family move from the “secure” life in Alabama (job with a monthly paycheck) to the exciting life in west Texas to start a vineyard (no paycheck at all !). In the past, I had tended toward frugality, reasons including living within our means and being a good steward. But using most of our savings to start our vineyard and then watching the rest disappear just living, I have had to take an advanced course in frugal living. As 2009 draws to a close, I began thinking of just how we have been able to live on so little. As I thought about this, I began to put my thoughts into words and hence the following list. These separate actions may seem insignificant, but their cumulative effect over time has added up to big savings.
- Tithe to your local church – Remember that God is source of all we have and can do. And He uses our all experiences to bring us to a greater knowledge of Him.
- Write all expenditures down in a budget book - Know where all your money is going.
- Stop impuse buying – Give yourself a week to think about a purchase and the necessity of it.
- Stay out of the stores as much as possible - What you don’t see won’t hurt you!
- Determine “needs” vs “wants” – Keeping up with the neighbors is an endless task in our society costing you not only money but needless anxiety.
- Compare prices – Look for the best buy. Check different stores as well as brands.
- Buy used – Shop yard sales, thrift stores, Craigslist, eBay
- If buying new, shop sales – Certain times of the year are more “sales” oriented than others so wait for these if possible.
- Make your credit card work for you – capitalize on the “cash back” aspect many card have when used to purchase particular items. Example: 5% cash back offered for gasoline purchases for the first $150/month.
- Use coupons – Coupons are a tool for you to use to save but also for the seller to hook you on a fad.
- Combine coupons with sales to maximize savings.
- Utilize store “rewards” programs – Example: Walgreens - Register Rewards or CVS - Extra Care Card and Extra Care Bucks.
- Drive older cars – If it still works and is reliable, keep it!
- Combine trips to save gasoline.
- Walk or bike instead of driving
- Adjust your thermostat so as to save energy.
- Turn off room lights when leaving a room.
- Turn off ceiling fans when leaving a room.
- Do not window shop in front of the refrigerator – Determine what you want to remove ahead of time to avoid unnecessary time spent with the fridge door open.
- Wash your clothes when they are dirty – This may be after one wearing, but then again, maybe not until several wearings.
- Hang your clothes out to dry – Save energy and get that fresh, line-dry smell in the summer. In the winter, use a drying rack inside to help humidify your house, which is healthier and feels warmer!
- Make your own laundry detergent - Homemade laundry detergent is easy and economical.
- Use cloth diapers instead of disposable – They are both economical and “green”.
- If applicable, nurse your baby – Nursing is definitely more economical than formula, healthy for the baby and helps you lose “baby weight”.
- Plant a vegetable garden – Space is not an issue as even small areas can produce large amounts. Incorporate vegies into your flower beds. Read books pertaining to gardening to learn more.
- Freeze or can your own vegetables. This is both economical and rewarding.
- Plan your meals - Monthly menu plans work great. Here is a free downloadable menu planner in either the weekly, 2-week, or monthly formats.
- Make a master grocery list of staple items – Go through your pantry and make a list of each item you stock and routinely use. Once you have your list, make an Excel worksheet of it. Then when you shop monthly, print off a copy, check your pantry, mark what you need, add items based on your menu and you are ready to go!
- Shop for groceries once a month – This sounds overwhelming, but with a master list it becomes easy. ***Planning meals combined with monthly shopping from a master list cut my grocery bill by over 60%.
- Drink more water and less soda – Save not only money but also empty calories and decrease sugar intake.
- Make-it-yourself
- Fix-it-yourself
- Do-it-yourself
- Cut your own hair – at least your husband’s and sons’. Having 1 husband (of 25 yrs) and 7 sons, at $5 per haircut every 2 months, I figure that I have saved over $3,000!
- Eat out less – if you do eat out, use Restaurant.com Gift Certificates
 .
- Fix your lunch and carry it with you – This option is healthier and you are able to control the ingredient, calorie and fat content of your food.
- Don’t eat out at all - Homemade meals are healthier as well as more economical.
- Use the local library – Depending on the size of your local library, they will have many current books and videos/DVDs and are able to order ones they do not have on the shelf.
- Discontinue cable – Stop watching television. Read books together (from the library) and make more quality family time together.
- Discontinue cell phones – This is not a popular option in our society. I found that for 1/2 the price of two cell phones and dial-up internet, we can have a landline, high speed internet and still maintain a trac phone for emergency use.
Frugal living tends to become a way of life in order to be a good steward. The necessity of it may depend upon your circumstances but it has become for me a fun challenge. Frugal living should not be confused with miserly living. We are living frugally for a purpose and a common family goal.
As a final word, as my husband says, “Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without!”
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We went to pick up our second oldest son from the airport last night and combined it with some shopping.
It turned out to be a great shopping trip and I was able to score some real deals.
The first stop was Walgreens:
My first transaction total was $4.24 and the second was $0.13. The grand total for all you see pictured was $4.37. The total before coupons was $27.42. I saved $23.05!
Next I hit Target:
I realize looking at the picture, we look like junk food junkies! But, the cake mixes were less expensive than making a homemade cake and with so many birthdays… And… with holiday baking coming up, well, I needed some marshmellows!
The total for 12 cake mixes and 6 bags of marshmellows was $9.08. Actually, I only paid $4.08 out of pocket since I used a $5 Target gift card which was almost free from a cereal deal a few months back!
The total before coupons was $24.18. I saved $15.10!
Needless to say, I was pumped on the way home - our son is here for a visit and I got some great deals!
We will be celebrating an early Thanksgiving while he is here. I certainly have a lot to be thankful for!
I am so excited to be able to offer the coupons.com link through my site dimes2vines. Coupons.com gives access to more than hundreds of dollars worth of free, printable coupons.I encourage each of you to take advantage of these savings.
In my desire to be transparent, I want you to know that when you print from coupons.com through my site, I will receive a few cents. My desire is to help you save money, so, whether you print through dimes2vines or another site – just use it! Make the most of this opportuntiy.
Coupon organization is always a challenge. I have my stash of coupons, now what do I do with them? When I started collecting, I simply cut out the ones I thought I would use and placed them in envelopes. They were in general categories such as food, paper products, toiletries… This simple method worked for a while. I would plan my shopping trip, pull out the coupons needed the night before (placing them in a separate envelope), and I was ready to go.
As my coupon collection grew, however, this system no longer worked efficiently. I did not know what coupons I had. More than once, my envelopes spilled onto the floor while I was shopping! Yes, as you might imagine, it was embarrassing! Something had to change. I researched other oraganizational methods.
Some people find that coupon pouches or coupon boxes work well. Others do not clip, but rather, file the Sunday coupon inserts according to the date. They then only clip the coupons they are going to actually use. I tried this method also. For me, clipping the night before shopping was too time consuming and resulted in a late night.
I chose to start a coupon binder. Here she is–my pink beauty! Case-it Large Capacity Fuchsia Zipper Binder (D-145)
I chose the Case-It because of the heavy duty zippered cover, its strong handle (a coupon stash can get heavy!) and the detachable shoulder strap. Any type of 3 ring binder will work, as long as it is large enough. But, I do recommend one with a zipper enclosure. This keeps coupons from spilling onto the floor!
I use baseball card insert pages to hold the coupons. I place one coupon (or multiples thereof) per slot. If it must be folded, fold so that the expiration date is visible on the back of the sleeve. This makes it quick and easy to remove the expired coupons.
For my main categories, I use the three ring binder divider pages. For the subcategories, I use the Post-It Durable Tabs. These I attatched directly to the baseball insert pages. I wrote on the divider pages and the Post-It tabs with a fine tip Sharpie.
My main categories with their subcategories are as follows:
Beauty
- Razors
- Deodorant
- Hair
- Body Wash/Lotion
- Make-up
- Oral
- Femine Products
Health
Includes pain relievers, medicine, vitamins, bandage products
Baby
Cleaning
- Bath
- Dish
- Laundry
- Air
- Floor/Upholstery
- Window
Pet
Paper/Plastic
Miscellaneous
Food
- Condiment
- Juice/Drinks
- Baking
- Freezer
- Refrigerator
- Canned
- Snack/Candy
- Cereal
My goal was to organize, so as to simplify finding coupons. Having the coupons readily visible in the baseball card insert pages does this for me. It allows me to go quickly to the category in question and look through the available coupons. The binder allows me to carry the coupons just about where ever and whenever I go to town. (Yes, I am a real country mouse now .)
The girls and I spend time each a week, clipping, cutting and organizing coupons. Then, whether I am preparing for a shopping trip or stumble upon a wonderful sale, the appropriate coupon is easy to find.
I thought a list of coupon sources might be helpful.
Sunday Newspaper These often have two or more inserts containing loads of manufacturer’s coupons. This has been my most reliable source.
Printable These are found on the internet and are often higher valued than those found in inserts.
In Product Packaging Make sure to check your packages. I have first-hand knowledge with this one–Eight O’Clock Coffee had one printed on the inside of the bag. Who knows how many I threw away without realizing it was there!
Mailers You may receive these in the mail especially after contacting different companies.
Blinkies These are the little machines on the aisle beside products that dispense them. (My children love them!)
Tear Pads Pads placed beside products or at counters having them attatched.
Peelies or “Try Me Free” These are attached to products and may be instantly redeemable coupons or mail-in rebate offers.
Family and Friends Ask for their unused ones.
Various Magazines Especially women’s magazines seem to have coupons.
Walgreens Cosmetic Counter They often have coupons if you ask for them.
CVS Reinventing Beauty Magazine Found in the cosmetic section of CVS.
Buy Them Even though this seems odd, I have actually done this and still saved quite a bit. I find this is especially helpful when I find a good deal to stockpile! I have personally used The Coupon Master and eBay.
Recycle Bins You have to go dumpster diving for this one! (Not recommended.)
To begin with, manufacturers want you to buy their product and stores want you to buy it from them. They are both in the business of making money. Coupons are a marketing gimmick, a hook or more nicely put, an incentive. They are designed to get you started on their product as compared to their competitor’s. The manufacturer (and store) is banking on your trying their product at a temporarily lowered price and then deciding to stay with it at the regularly offered price. They recognize that some people need more of an incentive to switch to their brand/store, and therefore, sometimes do not limit an individual to one coupon use. That’s where I, and many others before me, like to make the most of their offers to minimize out-of-pocket costs.
Also, manufacturers and stores do not have to issue coupons. If they see that their sales are not increasing from their use – they can stop. But as you can see from your Sunday paper, they must think they work. Additionally, stores only benefit from manufacturer’s coupons. Potentially more and new customers come in their doors. While they are reimbursed not only for the face value of the coupon, but also an additional amount to offset their expense for processing the coupon.
So here are a few coupons points to remember.
- Always be friendly and courteous to cashiers, managers and other store employees. They are people too that enjoy a smile, a greeting and the same respect as you expect.
- Sometimes a cashier (or even manager) does not understand couponing. Be patient and try to explain what you are doing. Do not demean or assume an arrogant attitude.
- Manufacturer’s and stores want you to use their coupons. They think they are a hook to catch you with.
- Store policies vary on how they accept coupons. Check their written policy. But, even big chains sometimes give the manager latitude on how to interpret their policy regarding coupon usage. Watch your attitude and don’t make yourself odious.
- Normally, only one manufacturer’s coupon is allowed per item.
- Just because you have a coupon does not mean you must use it!
- Be ready to set aside your brand loyalty. In order to save the most with coupons, you must be willing to venture out and try new brands.
- Wait for a sale and combine it with a coupon. Otherwise, often the generic, store-brand will be less expensive.
- Always compare the price per unit sold. Often, coupons offer a set price off, without defining the package size. This sometimes renders the smaller sizes less expensive per unit item. For example, say Tide offers $1 off any size of its new liquid formula. Normally, the larger the package the lower the price per ounce of detergent. But, if they have a “travel” size that costs only $1, you can get it for free. If you are only using 1 coupon this doesn’t make much of a difference. But if you have 30 coupons, there may be enough detergent for a few months! (I am accustomed to buying in bulk, so this goes very strongly against my grain!)
- Stockpiling is one key to reducing your shopping bill. If an item is on sale and you have a coupon enabling you to purchase it inexpensively–stockpile. This is especially true for consistently used items (ie. ketchup, toilet paper, soap, toothpaste, Ziplok bags etc.). Do not just buy 1 or 2, buy 10 or 20! Purchase as many as you have coupons for within reason. I am not advocating hoarding – I’m not that old yet!
CVS has a store loyalty program called the Extra Care Card. You can sign up for, immediately receive and begin using your card at your local CVS store. Be sure to give your email address as they will periodically email store coupons (ie. $4 off your next $20 purchase – $4/$20).
Extra Care Bucks (ECB’s) are CVS rewards that are used as cash in the store. ECB’s print out at the end of a transaction from a catalina machine adjacent to the register.
Many times there are items advertised as “Free After ECBs“. When you purchase these items, a “coupon” (ECB), prints at the end of the transaction for the purchase amount of that item. When first starting, these are not technically “free” as you have initially paid out of pocket (OOP). The trick is to “roll” your ECBs by then turning around and using them to pay for the next transaction. By rolling your ECB’s and using manufacturer’s coupons, you will really end up getting many items free.
Point to remember:
- Have the cashier scan your Extra Care Card before you start to check out.
- With your Extra Care Card, you will earn 2% cash back on each in store and online purchase. This cummulative 2% is converted to ECB’s every 3 months.
- With your Extra Care Card, you will receive miscellaneous store coupons at the end of your transaction after ECB’s have printed.
- You earn 1 ECB for every 2 prescriptions purchased in the store or online.
- One manufacturer’s coupon and one CVS store coupon can be stacked per item. Thus you can have twice the number of coupons as the number of items in a transaction (no fillers needed).
- ECB’s are equivalent to cash rather than a coupon, further reducing the concern for the coupon-to-item ratio.
- Many items which generate ECB’s have a limit on the number that may be purchased while receiving ECB’s. Once that limit is reached, no additional ECB’s will be generated (in that nor other stores for the limited item).
- ECB’s do have an expiration date. Normally, it is four weeks from the date they are generated. Keep your printed ECB’s organized to make sure you use the earliest expiring first. Sometimes, a store manager will accept expired ECB’s. Ask first! It is a loyalty program, they want your business.
- ECB’s are not transferrable. They can only be redeemed with the personal Extra Care Card with which they were generated.
I try to minimize the amount I spend out of pocket (OOP). To do this, when I make a store visit, I plan multiple transactions (or scenarios) trying to use ECB’s earned earlier to pay for the next transaction which will earn the same amount or more ECB’s.
“Money Makers” occur when you combine a manufacturer’s coupon with a “Free After ECB’s” item. You are not really “making money” as in being paid cash by the store, but you spend less out of pocket money (or fewer ECB’s) than you earn in new ECB’s.
At checkout, I have found the following order works very well:
- Ast the cashier to scan your Extra Care Card.
- Have all your items rung up.
- Present any CVS $4/$20 store coupons. Your total could drop below $20 after all your other coupons.
- Present any CVS store coupons.
- Present any manufacturer’s coupons.
- And finally, use your ECB’s (oldest first).
If you are paying with ECB’s totalling more than the transaction total, they can manually reduce it to what your total is (you will lose the reduced amount) or you can add another item to make up the difference. I use my calcluator to keep up with my total.
Build your confidence by starting with simple, one or two item transactions. Then, move on to more complicated, multi-transaction scenarios. My goal is not only to roll ECB’s, but to grow them creating overage to pay for other items needed!
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Grab My Dime! 
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About Me 
God has amazingly blessed me, Dina-Marie, with a wonderful husband and 10 beautiful children. Moving from our "secure" life in Alabama to the "exciting" life of starting a vineyard in west Texas has been challenging to say the least. I have had the opportunity to take a crash course in frugal living and become a real farm girl - complete with milk cow and chickens. I have learned the importance of health from the inside out, "traditional" cooking and cod liver oil!
I hope to encourage you to make the most of where you are and what you have. |
